This invention relates to vises, generally comprising a fixed jaw and a movable jaw, wherein the movable jaw can, by means of a screw, lever, cam or the like, be moved towards or away from the fixed jaw to enable a work piece or other object to be located in a space defined between the movable and fixed jaws. This work piece, or object, is firmly held within the fixed and movable jaws while being worked.
Vises are well-known tools and are applied and used in a wide variety of situations and circumstances. Simple or general home vises, when mounted on a table or workbench, can be used in multiple applications where it is desired to firmly hold an object in a stationary fixed position. In many instances, such vises require only a low level of precision, where the exact position of the work piece when located in the space between the movable and fixed jaws is not, to any great extent, critical. On the other hand, vises may also be used in machining and working objects which require very precise positioning, where high tolerance levels and mechanical exactness is essential to the process and accuracy of the job being performed. In such instances, one pair of jaws of a particular type may well be inadequate for carrying out different tasks, and it is therefore often desirable to connect inserts, or use attachments or replacements, in the vise, in order to tailor the configuration and properties of the jaws, as well as their positions, to the specific task at hand.
Various patents in the prior art describe different forms and types of vises. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,540 (Teafatiller) describes a work piece support for use in a machine tool. There is shown a work piece holder which can be installed on the jaw of a vise, the holder including a block which can be attached to the jaw and has a vertical face with a series of bores. Within these bores, work piece supports can be inserted, and these include angle supports which permit selected inclination of a work piece supporting edge which is in supporting contact with the work piece. This patent addresses the situation where the work piece must be firmly located between the movable and stationary end members of the vise at different predetermined angles, and the support means between these end members is designed for such selective inclination to properly locate the work piece in the desired position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,782 teaches range jaws for milling machine vises. In this vise, which has stationary and movable end members, the movable end member has a flat elongated upper surface normal to a work piece clamping surface located on the movable member. A first accessory is provided having a Z-shaped cross-section, which has a notch on one of the legs. A second accessory member is also provided which has an L-shaped cross-section with one leg thereof resting on an upper lateral surface of the movable element of the vise. A bar is provided having a projection extending along the length thereof which engages the first and second accessory members. Means are provided to movably secure both the first and secondary accessory members to the movable element of the vise.